Americans at Work

 There was a mass exodus from the dock this morning.  The same group of boaters are all headed the same way...North.  There were about 5-10 boats that were off the dock by 8am and we played follow the leader for 42 miles, or maybe more like leap frog for 42 miles.  This boat would pass that sailboat that would pass another boat, etc etc.  We went through several bridge lifts, some timed some upon request.  We missed one bridge lift by 3.5 minutes and had to wait for the next lift, 30 minutes later.  We had one bridge lift that was followed immediately by a lock.  All 9 boats crammed into the lock, we all threw our lines up onto the bollards and hung on, that is, all except one boat.  He couldn’t get his lines on and kept wandering off the lock wall, then he was getting really turned around, then crosswise in the lock (just like that tanker in the Suez Canal), now he’s about to ram the sailboat on the other side, everybody is shouting and yelling and telling everybody else what to do.  The lady on the boat behind us was the one about to get rammed and oh,oh,  oh, was she mad.  I was on the stern of our boat and she is on the bow of hers, yelling at me about those damn power boats, all they want to do is pass, pass, pass and then we all end up in the same place, yadda yadda yadda.  I pointed to my ear with my headset on telling her I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. I really just didn’t want to listen to her tirade. In the meantime, after doing a total 360 in the middle of the lock, that boat got control again and got tied up securely to the wall.  For the most part, everyone exited the lock in a civilized manner. The area we came into was absolutely fascinating! This was a picture of America! We passed a giant metal smelting plant, industrial buildings that housed who knows what kind of businesses, too many ginormous cranes to count and then we saw the ships. Norfolk has a large military presence, we got to watch blue angel type planes do touch and goes, aircraft carriers out of the water for repairs, destroyers that were dwarfed by other military craft.  I was in awe watching the scenery unfold in front of me. Forgive the multitude of pictures and plane videos, frankly, I am mesmerized by all of it.  What a magnificent country we live in!  We went from Coinjock NC to Norfolk, VA, 42 miles, 6 hours. Hello to Marilyn❤️, Kitty, Maridee, Marcia, Chris, Kev, Grant,Anne, Tara, Paul.  Thanks for stopping by again❤️

Train bridge.

Submarine.

Local transportation.

Aircraft carrier, notice the bulbous bow.

 Better pic of the boat out of water.

Military security boat.

Silos , I think.